Worst year ever for West Nile in Texas; 40 dead

September 5, 2012

(AP)—Health officials say it's the worst year ever for West Nile in Texas, which has seen nearly half the country's deaths from the virus this year.

Texas Department of State Health Services Commissioner David Lakey says at least 40 people have died from the mosquito-borne virus there. The state has recorded at least 495 cases of neuroinvasive West Nile, the most serious form of the illness.

Federal officials say at least 87 people nationwide have died from West Nile this year.

Federal officials have said this year's number of cases in the U.S. may rival the record years of 2002 and 2003.

Related Stories

(AP)  Ten deaths and more than 200 cases of the West Nile virus in northern Texas have become the worst U.S. outbreak this year, leading the Dallas mayor to order the city's first aerial spraying of insecticide in more ...

Recommended for you

Researchers from the University of South Carolina, Duke University, University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Metabolon Inc. Research Triangle Park have discovered a new pathway in the liver that opens the door to treat non-alcoholic ...

New genetic research from an international team including McMaster University, University of Helsinki, Vilnius University and the University of Sydney, suggests that smallpox, a pathogen that caused millions of deaths worldwide, ...

Psoriasis is well-known for causing too many skin cells on elbows, knees, and across the body, but people living with psoriasis may also be at an increased risk of heart disease. Effects of overactive immune cells in the ...

In a new study, researchers have modified a rabies virus, so that it has a protein from the MERS virus; this altered virus works as a 2-for-1 vaccine that protects mice against both Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) ...

0 comments

Please sign in to add a comment.
Registration is free, and takes less than a minute.
Read more

Click here to reset your password.
Sign in to get notified via email when new comments are made.